


And the Not Broke Friendship

by debirlfan



Category: 2 Broke Girls
Genre: Episode s03e20, F/F, Pre-Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-19 23:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1487359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debirlfan/pseuds/debirlfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Episode addition for s03e20, And the Not Broke Parents</p>
            </blockquote>





	And the Not Broke Friendship

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Measured](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured/gifts).



> For Measured - for the third rare ship swap. Hope you enjoy.

Deke's dumpster was deceptively heavy, and the wheels were never meant for more than adjusting its position. Ultimately, the girls only ended up pushing it a little over a block. It was enough, though. Enough to make a statement to Deke that the relationship was over, and enough that Caroline figured it was the best workout she'd had since she'd been forced to give up her pricy gym membership. 

Walking back to their apartment, she steered Max into the neighborhood package store. Ignoring Max's protests, Caroline picked out a bottle of their best wine. Although it was nothing that Caroline would have purchased in her old life, it was a decent vintage and was expensive enough to blow their budget for the week. She didn't care. Max claimed that she was cutting Deke loose for his own good. While on the surface that might be true, the real reason Max had given up both Deke and her dreams of the pastry school was because she was unwilling to abandon their friendship. That deserved to be celebrated with more than screw-top wine.

Back at the apartment, Caroline pulled down the Murphy bed. Moving into the kitchen, she dug a corkscrew from the back of the drawer and opened the wine while Max fetched glasses, grabbing a couple from the cupboard and then joining Caroline, who seated herself cross-legged on the bed. Max reached for the bottle and poured a healthy portion of wine into each glass.

Caroline eyed the cartoon characters that adorned her glass. "Drinking wine from a Fred Flintstone glass makes me feel sort of dirty."

Max laughed. "You'll get over it. At least I didn't give you the one with Hello Kitty." She clinked glasses with Caroline. "To being poor."

"To being poor," Caroline agreed. She sipped at the wine. It wasn't the sort of thing one usually toasted, and old Caroline never would have understood, but now she did. Being poor might suck, but it sucked less than selling out the people you cared about. She reached out and tapped her glass against Max's. "To being monetarily poor, but friendship rich."

Already halfway finished with her own wine, Max hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, what she said." She polished off the remainder of the glass, then reached for the bottle, refilling her wine and topping off Caroline's.

There was something that had been nagging at Caroline since before they'd started Deke on his way home, and she knew that if she let it go, by morning Max would deny having ever said it. She might even deny it now, but Caroline had to know. Ignoring the reproachful look she was certain Fred was giving her, she swallowed down a deep draught of the wine. "Max, did you mean what you said?"

Max cocked an eyebrow. "You mean about you being at the bottom of the three-way list? Yeah. Deke has a thing for boobs and a little more meat on his women. He said that sleeping with you would be like sleeping with a boney pancake."

Caroline sighed. "Good to know, but that's not what I meant." She suspected that Max already knew that, but was going to force her to spell it out. So be it. "I meant what you said about me." Caroline couldn't get Max's words out of her head. Resilient, smart, creative, driven. Awesome. "About me being awesome." 

"Did I say awesome? I meant awful."

"Max!"

Max said nothing for a moment, instead toying with her glass. Finally, she shrugged. "Yeah, I meant it. I couldn't do what you've done. Living here, working as a waitress."

"But you live here, and you're a waitress?"

"I was born here, and I've always been a waitress. That's all I ever aspired to be." Max hesitated. "Okay, well, maybe I had the occasional dream about making cupcakes, or hitting the lotto and buying Han out, but you know what I mean. This is who I am. It's not who you are. You come from a world of rich people and servants and country clubs. You've adapted to living down here with us common folk, while I couldn't even manage not to make an idiot out of myself in front of Deke's parents."

"You didn't make an idiot of yourself."

Max poured more wine. "Really? 'I eat soup'? What do you call that?"

Caroline fought to keep from laughing. "A questionable culinary choice?"

A shrug. "Wouldn't be the first one. I make a lot of questionable choices."

She had to ask, even if she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer. "Are you regretting breaking it off with Deke?"

"No." Max shook her head sharply. "That needed to be done." Her lips curved into a smirk. "I'm just regretting not taking my half of the weed before we moved his apartment uptown."

Caroline rolled her eyes. It wasn't often that she could get Max to be serious, and even on those rare occasions, it didn't last long. She wasn't quite willing to give up, though. "Max, don't sell yourself short. You've risen above your roots. All those things that you called me, they apply to you, too. You're just as resilient, just as smart, just as driven. And a heck of a lot more creative. I'm certainly not the one who thought up those Spring Break cupcakes." 

That brought a chuckle. "They were pretty good, weren't they?"

"They were awesome. Just like you."

Max seemed to consider that. "We compliment each other. Your business smarts, my street smarts." She grinned a Cheshire cat grin. "Your highfaluting tastes, my taste buds."

Caroline was happy to see that Max's mood had lightened, and she didn't think it was entirely due to the wine. "Those taste buds are magic. You're going to be a success, Max. Your cupcakes are delicious and everyone who tries one knows it, even Martha Stewart. You don't need pastry school." 

"No, I guess not. And I don't need Deke, either." Running her tongue along her lower lip, Max gave Caroline a long look. "Actually, I'm pretty sure I already have everything I need."


End file.
